We're pretty sure that mountain bike skills training is going to be the Next Big Thing. After all, most potentially-hazardous outdoor pursuits - climbing, kayaking, snowboarding and all the rest - have a well-established programme of training, and most people wouldn't have a go at them without the help of someone who knows what they're doing. But there's a perception that mountain biking is "just riding a bike", which anyone can do. There's a degree of truth to that - the vast majority of mountain bikers are largely self-taught. But today's experienced riders have ridden through the development of increasingly-challenging purpose-built trails and got better accordingly. Newcomers to the sport these days find that the most obvious places to ride are also those that are likely to present challenges that may well be beyond them at first.

All of which brings us to the launch of a new skills training business set up by David Webster. David's been in the bike industry for sufficiently long to have worked for GT/Schwinn UK, Halfords and, more recently, Raw Experience. At Halfords he was manager of the Halfords/Bikehut/Schwinn team, looking after riders like Rob Jarman and Neil Donoghue. But now he's turned his 20 years of riding experience to coaching and skills training. He's qualified as a British Cycling coach and a Scottish Mountain Bike Leader and has set up Transcend Trail Academy to "help mMountain bikers develop their skills as riders, [making them] better equipped to deal with the sort of riding that trail centres such as Glentress throw at them."

Transcend will be running a variety of tailored courses. Group sizes won't exceed four, so you're guaranteed plenty of individual attention. For course dates and information, have a look at www.transcendtrailacademy.com or call David on 01721 729096.

The company also has a cycle shop staff training arm, and will be supplying staff training for Edinburgh Bike Coop for the next three years.